Tales of Symphonia  Into the Adventure
by Phantom Thief of the Stars
Summary: A girl ends up in her favorite video game,and she's going to travel with Lloyd and the gang! How will this change our hero's fate? Self-insertion fic. Please comment and rate!
1. The Story Begins

The Story Begins

It was not fun being part of Tales of Symphonia, I figured that out almost immediately. One minute I was sitting in my basement, turning on my Wii, the next I was waking up in a sun-dappled glade, with no idea how I had gotten there.

I sat up looking around, and realized I had no idea where I was. I stood, looking down. I still had on the pink sweats I'd been wearing at home. I looked around me soaking in my surroundings, mostly trees and plants. It didn't seem dangerous, at least not right then. I had a weird sense of deja vu, like I'd been here before, yet I knew I hadn't.

The bushes behind me rustled and I turned to find myself face to face with a bear. Not a normal bear, it seemed as though it was different from most bears. And then it hit me, why I recognized this place. I was in the game, in Tales of Symphonia, and I was going to die.

I screamed, as loud and high pitched as I could. The creature backed off and roared slashing at me with it's claws. I jumped back and it didn't touch my skin, but it tore my sweats to shreds. I fell, still screaming, when a voice floated out of the woods behind me.

"Demon fang!" I felt something white hot fly past me, only a hairbreadth from my body, and slam into the creature. A figure jumped out of the bushes, and all I saw was a flash of red before the monster fell down, dead.

"Are you okay?" the boy with messy brown hair asked me, "I heard you scream and came as fast as I could. It didn't hurt you did it? I'm sorry, monsters have been popping up more frequently lately, and I'm the only one who travels through it, so I didn't tell any one so..." He turned toward me and stopped. He turned right back around and pulled off his jacket and tossed it to me.

"What's this for?" I asked him, picking it up, "I'm not cold or anything."

"Your c-c-clothes," he managed to stammer before I realized what he meant.

I blushed bright red, and quickly pulled on the jacket. It was long on me, the boy was tall, but I was glad for it. The only pieces of clothing that had escaped the bears claws were my bra and underwear. I stood, shaking the too long sleeves back to free my hands.

"Um..." I let my voice trail off, as he turned around, "What's your name?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Oh! I'm Lloyd," he said as he looked at me, "Let's go to my place for now, you need some new clothes anyway. And whats your name, so I can talk to you on the way there."

"I'm Abigail," I told him, "but my friends call me Abbi."

"Abbi huh?" Lloyd said. Then he smiled and gestured at the path, "We need to get moving, my house is right over that hill."

I followed him over the hill and watched as the house came into view. It was made of wood, and there was a small stream running across the path that led toward the house. It had two stories and a wraparound balcony, that had a ramp that led to the roof of the stable. Lloyd walked toward the house and I hurriedly followed him. He signaled for me to stop at the door.

"Wait here," he said, "I'm going to tell my dad what happened and then I'll come get you, alright?" I nodded, simply grateful to be out of the forest.

He entered the house, and after some conversation, there was a shout, a crash, and the door flew open. I found myself staring at a red haired dwarf who grabbed my arm and pulled me into the house.

"Lloyd you fool boy," the dwarf shouted, "How could you leave her standing outside with nothing but your jacket on?"

"I wanted to warn you," Lloyd's voice came from the other side of the room, where it looked like something had cashed into a workbench. He sat up rubbing the back of his head, "I didn't want you to get the wrong idea."

"Well she didn't have to wait that long," the dwarf told Lloyd, "You just had to explain, but you kept stuttering and such. Hello young lady, I'm Lloyd's father Dirk."

"Thank you sir," I said, "I'm Abbi, and I am really cold."

"See boy, she's cold," Dirk told his son, "Run to the village and see if the Professor or someone has something she can wear."

"Alright Dad," Lloyd said jumping up, "Be right back."

As he walked out Dirk gave me some towels, and pointed toward to the back of the house.

"There's a small hot spring out back," he informed me, "Why don't you go and bathe, while we wait for Lloyd?"

"I think I will," I told him, "and thank you."

I walked out to the spring and took off what was left of my clothes. As I lowered myself into the spring I relaxed, and started to wash. When I was done and had started to climb out, I lost my footing and fell backwards into the spring. My head cracked against the bottom of the spring, and I lost consciousness.

I awoke sometime later, with a boy, a dwarf, and a tall elegant woman hovering over me. I went to sit up, but found that my head was aching to much to do so. I laid back on the pillows, and looked at the three people sitting next to the bed.

"Abbi! Are you okay?" the boy seemed concerned.

"Who are you?" I asked, "And more importantly who am I?"


	2. A New Life

New Life

Everyone was staring at me. Here I was at the school in Iselia, with no idea where I had come from, and only knowing my first name. Raine had told me it was common for head injuries to cause memory loss, and that me memory would return in time. Until then I was going to stay with Lloyd and Dirk, and attend school in Iselia.

As Raine introduced me, I thought back to the previous night. It had been somewhat chaotic after I had dropped the bombshell of my memory loss.

"_Who are you?" I asked, "And, more importantly who am I?"_

_ They looked at me concerned, and the woman carefully ran her fingers over the back of my head. I winced as her long, slender fingers ran over a large bump, that was extremely sore, and the obvious cause of my pounding headache._

_ "You don't know who you are?" the woman questioned. She was tall and thin, with jaw-length silver hair, and serious blue eyes._

_ "I have no clue who I am," I told her, "Do you know?"_

_ "No" the woman answered, "I only know what Lloyd and Dirk have told me, and that is that Lloyd found you in the forest, being attacked by a monster. He saved you and brought you here, to his home. Dirk sent him to me to get you some clothes, yours had been destroyed by the monster, and to look you over and see if you had been injured. When I got here, you were unconscious after falling and hitting your head on the bottom of the hot spring."_

_ "I see," I said, "So now what?"_

_ "I suggest that you stay here, and attend school in Iselia until you get your memory back." the woman said, "I teach there, and it will give me a chance to check on you everyday."_

_ "Okay, I guess," I said uncertainly, "When will I get my memory back?"_

_ "There's no way to know," she said, "Injuries like this can be tricky. It could be a couple days before your memory returns, or a couple years."_

_ "I see," I muttered, "Thank you, Ma'am."_

_ "No problem," she said getting up, and turning to leave. She walked to the door and opened it, but paused just before leaving. She turned back to me and said, "By the way, I'm Raine Sage." And with that, she turned and left._

_ After she had left, I noticed the one named Lloyd looking at me, and was curious as to why._

_ "Why are you staring at me?" I asked and he started, "What's so interesting?"_

_ "Well..." he began, trailing off, "It's just, your hair and eyes. Their different from before."_

_ "What do you mean?" I asked._

_ "Well when I met you," he said, "Your hair and eyes were brown, and your skin was tan. But now..." he trailed off and examined me more closely, "Your hair is almost white, with a slight green tinge, and your eyes are dark blue. Not only that, but your skin is so pale that I swear I could see right through you._

_ "Really?" I asked, not believing him. He nodded and stood, walking over to the wall to remove the mirror hanging there. He walked over to the edge of the bed, carrying the mirror and handed it to me. I looked into the mirror and gasped, seeing that he was right. I reached up to touch my face and the girl in the mirror did the same. I may have lost my memory, but I knew this wasn't my face. My very bone structure had changed. My high, prominent cheekbones had disappeared, and my nose had shrunk giving my face a delicate, porcelain doll appearance._

_ I looked at my reflection in disbelief. This couldn't be me! Yet I knew it was and I would just have to deal with it._

_ Lloyd looked at me and said, "You need to get some sleep, tomorrow is your first day of school."_

_ And with that he left me, and I laid down and tried to sleep through my whirling confusion. _

So here I was, standing in the front of the classroom, at Iselia's school. I looked over the faces of the students, but there was no sense of recognition, and I stopped trying.

"Everyone this is Abbi," Professor Sage said to the class, "She was found in the forest yesterday evening by Lloyd, and in an accident lost her memory. She will be studying with us until it returns, so be kind to her, and don't ask questions about her past, okay?"

"Yes, Professor," the class chorused in response, and the Professor nodded her head.

"You can have the empty seat next to Genis, Abbi," she said pointing it out, "Genis is my little brother, so if you don't understand something, or need help ask him."

"Thank you," I told her heading to my new seat. I sat down, and looked at the boy at the desk next to mine. He was shorter than me, with the same jaw-length hair as his sister, and the same serious blue eyes. He looked at me and smiled.

"Hi, I'm Genis Sage," he introduced himself, "but you probably guessed that. If you need anything I'll help you, so don't hesitate to ask."

"Well, actually..." I trailed off not wanting to sound stupid, "could you tell me about this place? It's history and such? I don't know much right now, and I need to keep up with the class so..."

The boy nodded, understanding what I meant. He turned and raised his hand. The Professor looked up and called on him.

"Raine, since this is just review, can I take Abbi to our house and catch her up with the rest of the class?" Genis asked his sister, "She's feeling really lost right now, and doesn't really understand what's going on."

She debated the decision for a moment and nodded. Genis stood and reached over to help me out of my chair. I took his hand and stood. He didn't let go of my hand, just led me out of the classroom and started out the door when the Professor said something.

"Take Lloyd with you Genis," she said, "Abbi may feel uncomfortable with just the two of you, after all she just lost her memory, and she'll need an escort home when you're done. Oh, and take Colette too," she added almost as an afterthought. "It will do Abbi good to have some female company, and there are things that only Colette can explain."

"Alright Raine," he said and Lloyd jumped out of his chair and a blond girl followed suit, "Well lets get going you two."

The trio led me down the street to a small house beside a pond. Genis and Lloyd went inside and the girl, Colette I guessed her name was, gestured for me to follow. I entered and saw it had a small kitchen, and a bedroom with two beds and two desks. Lloyd and Genis sat on one of the beds, and Colette and I shared the other.

"Hi there, I'm Colette Brunel," the girl said as she looked at me, "You're Abbi right? Thats an unusual name."

"Is it?" I asked, "I didn't know that."

"Ahem," Genis cleared his throat loudly, "I think it's time we got you caught up."

I turned to him and nodded, maybe this would help me remember.

"Lets start with the legend that has been passed down for generations since four thousand years ago," Genis began, and cleared his throat, "Once upon a time, there existed a giant tree that was the source of mana. A war, however, caused this tree to wither away, and a hero's life was sacrificed in order to take it's place. Grieving over the loss, the goddess disappeared unto the heavens. The goddess left the angels with this edict: _"You must wake me, for if I should sleep, the world shall be destroyed." _The angels bore the Chosen One, who headed towards the tower, that reached up unto the heavens. And that marked the beginning of the regeneration of the world."

I stared at him in wonder, the legend was beautiful in a way. He stopped and looked at me, before he continued. He told me about the war mentioned in the legend, and the Journey of World Regeneration. He told me about the evil Desians and their human ranches. He also told me that tomorrow was the Chosen's birthday, and that a new Journey of World Regeneration would start.

"Who is the Chosen?" I asked, unable to contain myself.

"That would be me," Colette said from my side. I turned and looked at her, she seemed so sweet. I hoped she didn't get hurt on the journey.

Lloyd looked outside and saw that it was getting dark. He stood and grabbed my arm and started to lead me out of the house.

"Guys, we've got to go," he told Colette and Genis, "It's getting dark out, and I don;t want to put Abbi in danger by taking her home after the sun goes down."

"Alright," Genis said, "Be careful on the way home you two."

"We will," I promised him, "See you tomorrow."

Colette came to the door and waved, her smile lighting up the night. Lloyd waved back and turned to leave the village. As he did I noticed that his cheeks were pink. I grinned and as we walked back to the house, I decided to tease him a bit.

"You like Colette don't you?" I asked him on the way back.

He stiffened and his face turned bright red. I laughed at his reaction. It was so obvious! He looked at me, a little sheepish, and put me in a headlock. He started to noogie me and I struggled against his hold, which only made him try harder. He started laughing too and released me. We walked back to the house, our laughter echoing in the stillness of the night.


	3. Recognition

Recognition

The next day, I was sitting with Lloyd and Dirk at the breakfast table. This was only my second day staying with them and they already felt like family. Dirk was a caring person, and he treated me like the daughter he'd never had.

Lloyd treated me like a sister, and after the incident in the forest yesterday, I felt like one. It was a small, close environment, that felt safe and warm.

Lloyd and I set off for school that day, and as we did, I impulsively leaned down and kissed Dirk's whiskered cheek. He put his fingers there, surprised, and waved as we walked away.

When we got to the village, everyone was talking about the oracle. I'd learned about the oracle yesterday, and was a little excited to see what it was all about. The village buzzed with excitement, and Lloyd got distracted while walking to school. I went on ahead, having heard that the Professor had a temper, and would not tolerate kids being late to class. I slid into my seat with moments to spare, and the Professor walked in. She scanned the room, seeing who was missing, and Lloyd decided on that moment the dash into the classroom.

"Lloyd," the Professor began, "You're late."

He looked around the room and sighed. Then he glared at me.

"You left without me!" he said angrily.

"I didn't leave without you," I told him, giggling "_You_ got distracted and _I_ didn't want to be late."

"I can't believe you!" he said, sounding scandalized, "How could you do this to me?"

"By walking," I said simply, and the rest of the class burst out laughing, as the Professor told

Lloyd to fill the buckets and stand at the back of the room.

The lesson was the same as the one I'd heard from Genis yesterday, and when she called on me I was ready to answer.

"Abbi," she said and I stood, "What was the name and purpose of the ancient tree of legend, and what became of it?"

"The tree of legend was call the Great Kharlan Tree," I stated, glad that Genis had told me, "and It provided the energy of life, mana, to the world. However the war over mana caused the tree to wither and die."

"Thank you," she said before moving on to the next question.

I tried to listen to the rest of the lesson, but I felt a headache coming on. I rubbed the side of my head, wondering what to do. The pressure was building and I didn't want to alarm anyone. I held up hmyr hand.

"Professor, may I use the restroom?" I asked, and Raine nodded, looking worried.

I stepped out of the classroom and went a ways down the hallway, before sinking to the floor. The pain was almost unbearable by this point, and strange images flickered through my mind. I could see a large majestic tree, a woman's face that mirrored my own, a young boy, two men, and other things. My head felt like it was about to burst, when a single word penetrated the pain.

"Abbi!" I turned to see Raine standing behind me, her face anxious. She was holding her staff over my head and a warm light was coming from it. The pain in head receded, and I stood and face the elegant woman.

"Thank you," I told her. She frowned at me.

"Abbi," she said warningly, "You nearly drowned two days ago, and you tried to keep this from me? That's foolish. If you ever feel like that again, tell me okay?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry," I told her and she nodded. "Where are you going?"

"To the Martel Chapel," Raine said, "The oracle just arrived and I'm going to check it out, before letting Colette go."

"I see," I wondered if it would be dangerous.

She left, telling me to stay in the classroom, but Lloyd had other plans. He decided that he, Genis, Colette, and I, were going to go see the oracle ourselves. Even after hearing about Raine's temper, curiosity got the better of me, and I went along. We fought several monsters on the way there, well they fought and I stayed out of the way, but we eventually made it to the chapel. We found a near dead priest, and learned that Desians had attacked the temple.

The sound of fighting came from above us, and Lloyd gestured at me to stay back as he advanced up the stairs. He and Genis took the lead, with Colette and I following. As we stepped onto the platform area, we saw the Desians.

"Where is the Chosen?" The man in front, who appeared to be the leader asked.

It was at that moment that Colette and I stepped onto the platform.

"Run, Colette!" The woman the Desians were cornering cried, and the Desians turned on us.

"Lord Botta, there she is," one of the guards told the leader.

"Chosen One, your life is mine!" Botta yelled turning.

"I won't let you Desians get away with anything!" Lloyd countered, drawing his sword.

"Desians?" the guard who had alerted Botta questioned with a laugh.

"What's so funny?" Genis asked angrily.

"Well then," another of the guards spoke, "Die at the hands of the Desians you so hate. Get them!"

Battle ensued, and Lloyd took on all three of the guards while Genis tried to cast. It wasn't long before they broke through Lloyd's defense and charged at Colette. I wanted to protect her and did the first thing I thought of.

"Hey you," I challenged, getting their attention, "Leave her alone!"

I willed myself to be faster and suddenly I was in front of Colette. Once I was sure I had their attention I darted away and they followed. Suddenly I tripped and fell to my knees.

I was relieved Colette wasn't in danger, but it was quickly replaced with dread, because their new target was me! They charged and I closed my eyes, waiting for pain that was sure to come. But it didn't and I opened my eyes to find myself airborne. I looked up and found myself resting in the arms of a man with dark red hair and piercing eyes.

He landed and set me on my feet, and after disposing of the rest of the attackers turned to look at us. I had joined Lloyd, Genis and Colette while waiting for him to finish. He looked each of us over and his eyes fell on me. They widened, and a whisper escaped his lips:

"Mira..."


	4. Coincedence

Coincidence

"What did you call me?" I asked him, the name nagged at me, like a long lost memory.

The man stared at me as though he had seen a ghost. He recovered quickly, and looked me over again.

"It's nothing," he stated, "I mistook you for someone else. More importantly, is everyone alright? Hm, no one seems to be hurt."

A glint of light attracted my eye to his hand. A small stone seemed to be attached to his hand.

"Is that an exsphere?" I heard Lloyd mutter beside me. I was about to ask him what an exsphere was when I was interrupted by the woman the Desians had been threatening.

"How can I ever thank you for saving the Chosen?" the woman asked the strange man.

"I see, so this girl is the next Chosen?" the man asked us, looking at me. Lloyd immediately grabbed my hand and put me behind him, acting, again, like an overly protective big brother

"No not me," I said, realizing what he must have thought, "Her, that girl is the next Chosen," I told him pointing at Colette.

Colette jumped, as if she'd forgotten about her position.

"That's right!" Colette exclaimed, "I have to go accept the oracle!" She looked at the woman at the door, "Grandmother, I'm going to undergo the trial now."

"What trial?" Lloyd asked. I was confused as well, but I decided to keep my mouth shut and listen.

"The monsters I assume," the stranger said, "An evil presence radiates from inside this chapel."

"Yes, that is correct," Colette's grandmother, Phiadra, Genis had told me her name during my lesson, said, "The Chosen is to receive judgment from heaven. But the priests that were to accompany her, fell at the hands of the Desians."

"Then I'll take on the job of protecting Colette," Lloyd told Phiadra. I giggled as I realized that Lloyd really did know how to get to a girl's heart, even if he didn't know it.

"Lloyd?" Phiadra said "I would be uneasy with just you."

The stranger looked at Lloyd, as though examining him.

"Your name is Lloyd?" he asked the youth.

"Yeah," Lloyd told him, "But who are you to ask for my name?"

"I am Kratos," he stated finally looking away from Lloyd, "a mercenary. As long as you can pay me, I'll accept the job of guarding the Chosen."

"Under the circumstances, I have little choice," Phiadra said to the mercenary, "Please be of service."

"It's a deal then," Kratos told Phiadra.

"W-wait," Lloyd said, stepping forward and dragging me with him, because he still hadn't let go of my hand, "I'm going too."

"Lloyd," Kratos looked at him, "you'll only get in the way. Be a good boy and wait here."

I winced at that. I hadn't known Lloyd for very long, but I_ knew_ that comment wasn't going to go over well.

"Gotcha," Lloyd said, and I was surprised that he was being reasonable, but realized he wasn't with the next words that came out of his mouth, "Then I'm just going to follow you on my own."

"You're a stubborn kid," Kratos said with a wry smile, "Fine, do as you wish."

"I'll do just that," Lloyd told him with a smug grin. He turned to me and Genis, "Let's go Genis, Abbi." he told us.

"Lloyd,I figured you were going to say that," he told the excited brunette.

"Are you sure you want me along?" I asked, worried, "I'll just be dead weight, and I..."

"Of course,"Lloyd said, looking at me, "Dad made me promise that I wouldn't let you out of my sight. He said if I did he would punch me so hard I'd end up in Palmacosta."

"This isn't a field trip you know," Kratos told them, and walked inside Colette following closely behind. Genis and Lloyd walked in, Lloyd refusing to let go of my hand and pulling me after him. I sighed, there was no reasoning with him.

We entered the temple and, after a brief moment of conflict between Lloyd and Kratos about Lloyd's self-taught sword techniques, walked down the path directly in front of us, only to find our way blocked by a large enchanted door.

"What do we do now?" I asked the group, and was answered by none other than Kratos.

"We look around," he told me, "There must be a switch or something that will open this door."

We backtracked and followed the left path, because the right path was filled with monsters, and found it collapsed halfway down the hall. Having realized that the only way forward was the monster infested right path, Lloyd forced me behind him _again _(this was really getting on my nerves) along with Colette (although he just asked her and she stepped behind him willingly) and we started down the path.

As we expected, the monsters started attacking as soon as we stepped into the right hand corridor. Kratos, who had taken the lead, disposed of most of them and Lloyd did his fair share as well, but they couldn't keep all of them away, which, coincidentally, is why I discovered my power.

We had reached an open area, and the monsters started coming at us from all sides. The others could fight and did, while I hovered in the middle of the group, simply trying to stay out of the way.

One of the monsters must have realized that I was the weakest link, and came after me. Seeing the charging monster, I looked around for help, and realized that I'd drifted from the group. Lloyd had looked over and seen the monster as well, and his strangled shout alerted the other to my danger. Knowing none of them could get to me in time, and that Genis needed time to cast, I panicked and did the first thing that came to mind.

"GET AWAY FROM ME!" I shouted desperate to make it stop. I forced my hands forward and felt them hit the creatures chest. To my surprise it flew backwards into the nearest wall, and died upon impact. As their bodies disappeared, I felt all the energy leave my body and fell to my knees. I looked around in order to thank Genis for his help, only to see him looking as bewildered as the all of the others. Even Kratos seemed surprised at what had happened.

"W-what is it?" I asked, "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"How did you do that?" Lloyd asked, sounding awed.

"Do...what?" I asked, almost too exhausted to speak.

"Just now," he said, "when you shouted and pushed, the monster just flew backwards, like you hit it with a hammer or something."

I tried to stand, but fell back to my knees and proceeded to puke all over the floor. I was so drained that I couldn't stand, and I attributed it and the puking to the terror I had just experienced. Kratos walked over to me as I recovered, and he knelt down to look me in the eye.

"You might want to wait a few moments before you try to stand again," he told me, "You seem to be in a state of shock, and we can't have you fainting."

"A state of shock?" I was puzzled. Then it dawned on me, "Because of the monster?"

"Yes" he confirmed, nodding, "You acted without thinking. You must have had an adrenaline rush."

"Adrenaline?" I questioned as the others looked at me with stunned expressions.

"Yes, adrenaline," he told me, "It happened outside too. Adrenaline is a chemical that your body releases when you are in danger. It activates the "Fight or Flight" instinct. It can actually increase your physical strength, but if you use too much strength you can injure yourself, so be careful."

"Okay, I will," I said as my energy returned.

"I'd be careful, and stay near Lloyd if I were you," he said, helping me to my feet. I nearly fell over, but he steadied me until I managed to regain my balance.

"And why should I do that?" I asked him as he let go, but stayed close just in case.

"If you don't and you panic again, you could faint" he told me, "Adrenaline can give you strength that you don't usually have, but it also exhausts you. Look at you, you can barely stand, and you just lost your breakfast all over the temple floor."

"So, I freaked out, and the adrenaline took over from there?" I questioned.

"Basically," Kratos said, "but it's not quite that simple. I'll explain more once we finish this. Lloyd, stay close to her. If she panics again, she might just faint, and then we'd be lugging her dead weight through the entire temple."

"I would've done that anyway," Lloyd told him defiantly, "You don't have to order me around like I'm some sort of..."

I put a hand on Lloyd's arm to stop him.

"Let's just go Lloyd," I begged him, "please? I'm really too tired for all this bickering, and I can barely stand, so let's just get this over with so we can go home and I can rest, okay?"

He looked at me for one-long-moment, then nodded. He placed his hand on my elbow and started to lead me through the hallway. I sighed. It was going to be a long day.

yyyyy

It wasn't long before Kratos decided that he and Lloyd would switch places.

"What do you mean you'll protect her?" Lloyd yelled at the mercenary, "I'm doing just fine."

"Lloyd, that's the third monster thats gotten past your defense in the last hour," Kratos stated, "Abbi is tired, drained, and will panic easily. She cannot defend herself, and you keep letting monsters past your guard. To top it off, if she panics and has another adrenaline rush, she will most likely collapse, and we don't have time for that. _You _will protect the Chosen for now, and _I _will take care of Abbi."

Lloyd was just about to retort with some snide comment, but I simply looked at him pleadingly and he gave in. He could see my exhaustion, my fear, and decided that my health mattered more than his personal war.

"Fine!" he said, obviously angry, "But if even one hair on her head is out of place when we get out of here, so help me I'll..."

"Lloyd," I cut him off, "please."

He looked at me, and stalked over to Colette and Genis, muttering under his breath about 'stupid mercenaries' and 'traitorous sisters'. I sighed, I seemed to be doing that a lot today. Kratos came and placed his hand on my elbow, just as Lloyd had, and I looked at him. He looked at me, seeming almost protective for a moment, then the moment was over and he was back to his cold self.

"Sorry about that," I told him, "He's been that way since I lost my memory. He's way too protective."

"Lost your memory?" Kratos asked as we walked, "What do you mean?"

"Well," I started, then looked at the ground, "Lloyd found me in the forest three days ago, being attacked by a monster. He saved me and brought me to his home. His father sent him for a change of clothes, and I bathed in the hot spring behind the house. When I tried to get out of the spring, I slipped and cracked my head on the ground. I lost my memory, and he and the Professor told me all this to see if it helped, but so far I can't remember anything." 

He looked at me curiously, he seemed to be inspecting me.

"Is this the first time you've lost your memory?" he asked and I jumped.

"I thought so at first..." I trailed off as I struggled to put my feeling into words, "but earlier, when you called me by that name, I felt like it wasn't. Like I had lost it before... like Mira really was my name. I don't know, but all this thinking is making me tired. Why did you call me Mira anyways?"

"You resemble someone I knew," he told me, "A friend of mine had a daughter, and she was the spitting image of you. She disappeared 12 years ago, when she was 8 years old."

"How do you know I'm not her then?" I asked, "If I lost my memory when I was young, then I wouldn't know what my name was, would I? And more than that I _am _20, or at least, I think I am."

"Really?" he asked and looked at me again, "If thats true, you could very well be her, it seems too much of a coincidence that you're 20, and you look just like her."

"Maybe," I looked at him and was about to continue when Lloyd spoke up.

"C'mon you two," he said, "We found a way to open the door."

"How are we going to do that?" I asked.

"With this," he held out his hand to me, and I saw a thin silver ring inset with a red stone on his finger.

"What is it?" I asked, confused. How was a ring going to open that door?

"It's the Sorcerer's Ring," Genis said, coming up beside Lloyd, "It's a magical artifact, that is the key to the door."

"I see," I said, "Does that mean we have to go _up_ all the stairs we went down?"

"Yes," Lloyd told me with an evil chuckle, "every single one of them."

I groaned, not sure if I could make it, when I felt my legs swept out from under me. I threw my arms around Kratos' neck to keep from falling. I glared at him.

"Warn me before you do something like that," I snapped at him, "You scared the heck out of me."

He smirked at me and started to carry me up the stairs that led to the main floor of the temple. I kicked and struggled (Well I tried to, but I had barely enough energy to lift my pinky finger.) and the others laughed as the mercenary proceeded to toss me over his shoulder. I glared at them as best I could from my position, and they cracked up at my expression.

"Glad to see you're happy Lloyd," I snapped at the laughing youth, "This is all your fault you know. If you had done a better job protecting me I wouldn't be in this situation."

"Oh, no," he said grinning at me, "You are not pinning this on me, you brought this on yourself. If you hadn't complained about the stairs, this would have never happened."

This comment sent Colette and Genis into a new round of laughter, and for a moment I wanted to give them a reason to laugh. But even now I could feel me eyelids drooping, and I started to lose my grip on consciousness. Lloyd must have noticed, and walked forward quickly. He spoke briefly to Kratos, who nodded, and got on one knee in front of the mercenary, facing forward.

Kratos flipped me into a bridal hold, and placed me on Lloyd's back. Lloyd lifted me and I let my head rest against his shoulder. It wasn't long before I lost my grip on consciousness and slipped into a deep, dreamless slumber.

yyyyyy

I woke to the sound of Genis yelling. I blinked, not fully awake yet, and still tired, to see the Professor spanking Genis. I watched for a moment, and she put Genis on his feet.

"You're next, Lloyd," the Professor said, "Are you ready?"

"Whoa, no, hey, stop!" Lloyd yelled, just before the Professor's kick sent him flying him across the space between her and the wall.

He slammed into the wall next to me and as Raine started to speak again, I nodded off, returning to the blissful state of sleep.

yyyyyy

I woke again, for good this time, in the entrance of the forest that lead home. I sat up and yawned.

I looked around and noticed that Lloyd and Genis were talking and decided to interrupt.

"Good morning," I said playfully, "How are you today?"

"Abbi!" Lloyd jumped up and took my hand, "How are you feeling?"

"Much better now," I told him, "Why is Genis here? Is he staying at our house tonight?"

"No," Lloyd looked at the magician, "He says he wants to visit a friend."

"But the only thing between here and our house is the human ranch, right?" I asked. My eyes widened, "You don't think..."

"I'm sure thats not it," Lloyd said, "More importantly, the three of us can't go on the journey of world regeneration."

"WHAT!" I screamed. Lloyd clamped his hands over his ears.

"Hey, lower it an octave will ya?" he said, "I don't like it when my ears bleed."

"Sorry," I said, "But why can't we go? And who is?"

"Kratos and Raine are going," Genis chimed in, "But they said we'd be in the way."

"But if Kratos leaves how am I going to learn about my past?" I asked, frustrated. "He knows something, I can feel it. He's the only link to my lost memory that I have."

"I don't know," he said, "But I'm sure we'll think of something." The magician patted my shoulder reassuringly, "Lloyd and I will help, and they don't leave until tomorrow so maybe you can talk to him before he leaves."

I nodded but in my heart I felt that this was just the beginning. We'd end up on that journey one way or another, and when we did, it would change our very lives.


	5. Mistake

Mistake

We shouldn't be doing this.

I thought that even as Lloyd, Genis and I made our way to the human ranch. We'd been told multiple times not to go to the human ranch. We'd been told not to go anywhere near the human ranch. Yet here we were, heading nonchalantly toward the one place we were forbidden to go.

This was not going to end well.

"Uhhh, Guys," I said as we approached the ranch, "Are you sure we should be doing this?"

"It'll be fine Abbi," Lloyd said, "We'll only be there for a few minutes, then we split, 'kay?"

"But... What if they see us?"

"Stop worrying. We'll be fine," Genis said, "I've been doing this for months, and I've never been caught."

I didn't argue any further. I had remembered a random saying that I couldn't place. '_Don't argue with an idiot, they'll drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.' _

"You guys go," I finally said, "I'll stay here and wait for you to get back."

Lloyd looked back at me and shrugged. He and Genis continued up the path and I sat down to wait for them. As I sat there I noticed something sitting on the ground beside me. I leaned down and picked it up.

It was a round gem-like stone. As I examined it I realized what it was. It was an exsphere. Lloyd had one. I wondered what it was doing here of all places. The more I thought about it, the more suspicious I got. I stood and started to search through the bushes at my feet. Sure enough I found out why it was there.

What I found was a skeleton. It was dressed in rags and I realized that it must have been a escapee from the ranch. The belief became stronger when I saw the crossbow bolt wedged in its spine. I was sickened when I realized that the person must have lived for hours after they had been shot, and they would've been in extreme pain the entire time.

"Oh, you poor thing," I said to myself as I sat there.

It was then that I heard a shout from the ranch. I crept up to a bend in the path to see Lloyd fighting a group of Desians, and Genis running towards me. He grabbed my arm as he ran by and hauled me down the path, away from the ranch.

We got to the entrance of the forest and Lloyd joined us, via jumping down a cliff. He landed beside us and Genis immediately started to apologize.

"Lloyd, they saw your face!" he exclaimed, "I'm sorry, it's all my fault..."

"Don't worry about it," Lloyd told him.

"But..."

"I took out the ones that saw my face, and the rest of them are still back up on the cliff. As long as we hurry up and get out of here, they'll never know."

"O...Okay..." Genis said finally.

"Just do my homework for me okay?" Lloyd told Genis and I smiled. Lloyd would never blame any of his friends for anything.

"Okay," Genis agreed.

"All right then," Lloyd said, "Abbi and I are gonna head on home. You should head back to the village."

"Lloyd, thanks for helping Marble," Genis said.

"No problem, thats what friends are for right?"

We headed home and Lloyd got chewed out by Dirk for going to the ranch,(not surprising), and I showed Dirk the exsphere I'd found while waiting for them.

"I see," he said when I finished my story. Lloyd was off talking to Colette, so Dirk and I were alone.

"Will you make me a key crest for it?" I asked the dwarf.

"I will," he told me, "Oh, and there are some clothes for you over there, if you want the try them on."

I looked to where he was pointing, and saw a set of clothes folded on the table.

"Where did you get these?" I asked as I inspected them.

"I made them," He said as he worked.

"Thanks a lot, Dirk," I said as I headed upstairs to try them on. Before I went up I remembered something. "Oh, and Dirk," I said, "Wasn't there a saying, one of those dwarven vows you're always going on about? What was it? Oh yeah, Dwarven Vow #2: Never abandon someone in need." And with that I went to try on my new clothes.

I woke up the next morning to and pulled on my new outfit. It was an off-the-shoulder light green top, with dark-blue flower embroidery that matched my eyes. Full light-green pants that were tight at the waist and ankles, but loose around the calves, with the same embroidery as the top. Over that I wore what was supposed to be a skirt, but was really just to ankle-length pieces of light-green embroidered cloth that were held together at the sides by sapphires. And to top it off, a cloak that was the same shade blue as my eyes, with light-green embroidery around the edges for cold weather, or rain.

I hurried outside to see Lloyd and Genis running toward the village. I ran to catch up (after retrieving my exsphere and key crest from Dirk and telling him goodbye) and Genis explained that Colette had already left. We arrived at the village and Lloyd made a beeline for Colette's house. I stayed where I was, at the entrance, until the Desians showed up.

While the villagers fought, I ran to get Lloyd. I arrived at the house and threw the door open, and as it banged into the wall I heard an explosion.

"Lloyd, Genis!" I shouted, "The Desians are attacking the village!"

Lloyd and Genis headed out into the village, but before I could follow, Phaidra grabbed my arm.

"Lloyd said you had an unequipped exsphere and key crest," Colette's grandmother said, "Before you go charging out there, let me show you how to equip it."

She took the key crest and placed it on my skin. I winced. It burned. She waited until the crest was completely attached, then she put the exsphere in the indention in the center.

"You're good to go," she said, "Now go help your brother."

I raced out into the village and saw that multiple buildings were on fire. I hurried to town square to see a large monster about to pound Lloyd into the ground. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a large blue haired man raising what looked like a weapon, and aiming at Lloyd.

"Stop!" I shouted, attracting the attention of the man who was about to attack my brother. He looked at me, and changed his target. I was terrified, and froze in my tracks. Then a single thought changed everything.

_"I need to be BETTER!"_

My body acted on instinct, and I shot forward until I so close, I was only an inch from his skin. The weapon was above my head, for I had stopped in a half crouched position underneath it. One of my hands shot up and forced the weapon into the air. At the same time I swept his feet out from under him with one of my legs, and before he so much as registered it, I flipped backwards, my foot connecting with his chin. I landed perfectly.

_"How did I do that?"_ I wondered.

I didn't have much time to think, because the desians were surrounding me. I flipped into a handstand and spun my legs and body full circle taking out at least five of my attackers. I put my feet on the ground, and flipped outside the ring of attackers. When my feet hit the ground I stumbled and fell. Lloyd saw and dropped his guard for a moment.

"Look out, Lloyd!" I shouted as I scrambled to my feet, "The monster is right behind you!"

Lloyd turned around and the monster tried to hit him. He blocked it with his arms and the blow tore off the bandage that covered his exsphere.

"Lord Forcystus!" one of the Desians said, "It's just as you thought, that boy has an exsphere!"

"It must be the one from the Angelus Project that we've been searching for!" the one that they had called Forcystus said. When I looked over, the man I had attacked was standing, rubbing his chin. There was a trickle of blood coming from the corner of his mouth. "Give it to me!" he demanded, as he and his men backed the three of us into a corner.

"No!" Lloyd spat at the man, "This is a memento of my mom's, who you Desians murdered!"

"What are you talking about?" Forcystus asked, "Your mother was..."

He never got to finish, for the monster that Lloyd and Genis had been fighting threw its' arms around him and spoke.

"Run...Away," it said as it held him, "Genis, Lloyd..."

"What was that voice?" Genis asked, his face pale. "It... sounded like... Marble?..."

"It can't be!" Lloyd said.

"Uh... ugh...guh..." the monster, Marble, sounded like she was in pain, "Get away... hurry!... Genis... you were like a grandson to me. Thank you. Goodbye..."

And with that, there was a huge flash of light, and Marble was gone. Her exsphere rolled to Genis' feet. We heard a grunt of pain from Forcystus. I looked up to see him kneeling on the ground, blood pooling around him from the wounds inflicted by Marbles sacrifice.

"No! Protect Lord Forcystus!" the lead Desian shouted, and he and his men surrounded the bleeding man.

"Lloyd," Forcystus began, "We will always come after you, so long as you posses that exsphere." He turned his eyes on me, "And you, child. You who has harmed me... You will face justice for your crime... Remember that.

I was so scared in that moment, I didn't even hear Genis' anguished cry.

Now we were on our way to find Colette and the others. We had been banished from the village, all three of us. It made sense, but it still hurt. Lloyd looked as though he was going to collapse under the weight of his guilt.

"Lloyd..." I said, not sure what to say, "I..."

"Please don't say anything," he said, "I'm sorry, it's my fault you were banished."

When he said that, I got angry. "What did you say? You idiot!" I yelled at him, "It's my fault I was banished, you got that? _I_ attacked Forcystus, _I_ fought with his men. _You _didn't have anything to do with it! You have enough guilt on your shoulders without trying to take mine! And I'm sure Genis feels the same!"

"But..." Lloyd said, "So many people died, and it was all my fault."

"No Lloyd," I said, "It wasn't all your fault, it was all _our_ fault. I should have stopped you two from going to the ranch, but I didn't. Genis knew better than to go there, but he did and so did you. This was no one person's fault, and if you try to take all the blame, so help me, I'll slap you as hard as I can, over and over, till you come to your senses."

He looked at me with an expression of shock on his face. "But..."

I turned to him, pulled back my hand.

** 'Slap'**

The sound of my hand connecting with his face rang out and I looked him square in the eye.

"Lloyd Irving," I said, "You can worry and worry and worry. You can regret and regret, and regret. But you know what? That's not going to change a damn thing. Lots of people died, yes. But do you think blaming yourself, do you think that moping around is going to bring them back? Well, I've got news for you, it's not. The only thing you can do is keep moving forward, and make sure you never make that mistake again. So suck it up and find Colette so we can make sure nothing like this ever happens again."

"Your right," he said, then he gave me his trademark grin, "Lets find Colette you two."

And that was the start of a long journey. What we didn't know was the things we would learn on that journey might be enough to break us forever.


	6. Capture and Escape

Capture and Escape

It was hot. We were traveling through the Triet desert, on our way to Triet. Genis was busy explaining to Lloyd why the land was a desert, and I was leading Noishe. We had been taking turns riding him, but I had decided to give the poor creature a break.

We had been on the road for a little over a week now and, except for some monsters, our trip had been somewhat uneventful. We hadn't run into any Desians, but we also hadn't caught up to Colette and the others.

"We're here!" I heard Lloyd shout, and I was reminded of our destination. I saw a city in front of us, and I smiled.

"Let's find out about Colette," Genis said, "I'm sure someone will tell us which way she was headed."

"You guys do that," I said, "I'll check us into the inn."

We agreed and started into the city. We stopped, however, when we noticed a group of Desians ahead of us. They spoke for a moment and dispersed.

"And I was worried. They didn't even notice us!" Lloyd said laughing.

"I know," Geins said, "They must be complete idiots."

I walked up to where the Desians had been standing. Looking at the message board they had been next to, I felt the blood drain from my face.

"Uhhh, guys," I said, "We might be in trouble after all." I pointed to the message board.

They looked and saw what I had seen. Wanted posters. Two of them, one for me, one for Lloyd. Lloyd's wanted poster looked nothing like him, thankfully. Mine had a slight resemblance, but nothing more.

"I don't think they'll find you with these," Genis said, "But we should be careful, just in case."

They agreed on that, and Genis decided to check us into the inn. Lloyd and I started asking around about Colette. People were very excited to talk about the Chosen. Turned out that Colette really left an impression in this town, literally. She had fallen through a wall and left a Colette shaped hole in it.

But as eager as they were to talk about the Chosen, no one seemed to know where she and her companions had gone.

The town was lively, and the people were kind. But I had a feeling something was going to go wrong. I shook it off, calling myself silly. We walked around the town, until we found lead.

"Why don't you talk to the fortune teller?" asked one man, "She's sure to know the answers you need."

"Why not Lloyd?" I asked the brunette, "It's not like we've had any luck so far, what can it hurt?"

"Well then," Lloyd said, "Let's go."

"Wait for me!" I heard Genis cry, and we turned to see him running toward us.

"C'mon Genis," I said, "Let's go see this fortune teller."

We weaved through the crowded back streets of Triet, heading for the fortune teller's tent. When we found it, Lloyd pushed the tent flap aside, and Genis and I walked in, Lloyd following.

"Hello, guests," came a voice from in front of us, "What brings you to my humble tent today?"

"Are you the fortune teller?" Genis asked.

"I am," the voice replied, and a woman came forward, "Do you need me to divine something?"

"We need to know where the Chosen of Mana is headed," Lloyd said, "Can you tell us?"

"I can," the woman replied, "For 100 gald."

"That's expensive!" Lloyd said, "What kind of..."

"Lloyd," I cut him off. I turned to the fortune teller, "Here," I said, handing her a bag of gald.

She counted it and nodded, then turned to her crystal ball. She concentrated for a moment, and turned back to us.

"They are on their way to the Triet Ruins," she said, "The Chosen's companion said so."

"Really?" Lloyd asked, "Yes! Let's go you two!" And with those words, the brunette raced out of the tent.

"Lloyd, wait up!" Genis said, running after him. I was about to follow, when the fortune teller stopped me.

"Wait," she said, and I turned. She was looking at me intensely, and I shivered under her scrutiny.

"What is it?" I asked.

"You have lost your memory," it was a statement. "It is returning, but the process will be painful, both physically and emotionally. You must not give up hope. You have powerful friends, and family. Remember, things aren't always what they seem." The woman bowed and left the tent.

I stood there in shock, what had she meant? I thought about it for a moment, and decided against telling Lloyd or Genis, it would only confuse them, and they had enough on their minds.

I left the tent and walked to the inn, where I met up with Lloyd and Genins.

"What took you so long?" Lloyd asked me.

"I was window shopping," I said, "After all, I am a girl, and girls like to shop."

The boys groaned and fell back on the beds. I laughed and headed off to my room to get some sleep.

As I lay in bed I thought about the fight back in Iselia. When I had fought Forcystus, I had wondered how I had done it. Now I had a vague idea, being I done something similar on our way here several times. It seemed that if I told myself to do something, I did it. My body's limits didn't seem to matter. It made me wonder about the incident in the Martel Chapel. Had it happened then too? And if so, did Kratos notice? But wouldn't he have told me if he had?

This line of thought was getting me nowhere. I rolled onto my side and forced myself to go to sleep, we had a long day ahead of us tomorrow.

The next morning, Genis and I rose early and woke up Lloyd. We refreshed our supplies and prepared to leave the city. We were walking out of the gate when...

"Hey you," a voice from behind us said, "Stop right there."

We turned and saw that we had been stopped by a group of Desians. I tensed, ready to move at any moment.

"Don't those two look like the wanted posters?" one of the Desians asked.

The one who had told us to stop looked at the posters and then back at us. "Yep. They look exactly alike."

"Hey!" I shouted before I could stop myself, "Don't insult us! The only one who's ugly enough to resemble that poster is you."

"Why you little..." the Desians drew their weapons and I flinched. Genis sent me a dirty look.

"Great Idea, Abbi," he said, "Provoke the guys with high-tech weapons, why don't you?"

The Desians charged and I saw one was about to fire a crossbow at me.

_"Faster and More Skilled!"_ I mentally told myself. He fired, and I pivoted on my right foot, snatching the bolt out of the air with my left hand, at the same time. I smashed my right fist into the face of the Desian that had sneaked up behind me. I kept turning, thinking, _"Stronger!"_ and used the added strength, along with the centrifugal force, and launched the bolt in my hand back at the crossbowmen. The man fell over with a cry as the bolt buried itself deep into his shoulder.

I spun to see if Lloyd and Genis needed help, only to find that except for the unconscious man at my feet, and the man on his knees in the square, none of the other Desians were even _alive. _Lloyd started cleaning his swords with one of the cleaning cloths Dirk had given him. Out of the corner of my eye I detected movement, and I rushed forward.

"Lloyd, Look Out!" I cried, grabbing his arm to push him out of the way. However, as soon as my hand closed on Lloyd's arm, the ball of electricity I had noticed connected with his back, and I felt the shock of my life before I lost consciousness.

yyyyy

"...i ...bbi ...Abbi,"

I opened my eyes with a groan. I blinked a couple times and my vision cleared to reveal Lloyd's face. I sat up and felt my whole body protesting the movement. I felt as though I had been run over by a horse.

"What happened?" I asked Lloyd.

"We've been captured by Desians," Lloyd replied, "Can you stand?"

"I think so," I said, and he helped me to my feet. I looked and saw that we were in a cell, and the door was open. I looked at Lloyd with an eyebrow raised in silent question.

"We're getting out of here," he explained and I nodded. We walked into the hall and he walked over to the desk that the guard must have used. While he belted on his equipment (Who keeps the prisoner's equipment in the same room as the prisoner? These guys are morons!) I noticed that a pair of leather gauntlets resting on the desk. I picked them up and noticed that there was metal plating over where the wearer's knuckles would rest. I slipped them on and Lloyd gave me a funny look.

"What?" I asked him, "It's better than nothing isn't it?"

He shrugged and walked toward the door that led out of the prison block. As we turned the corner, we ran into a pair of Desians. With an instant order of _"Faster and Stronger,"_ I smashed my gauntleted fist into the face of one, while Lloyd ran the other one through. They crashed to the ground, not even knowing what hit them.

Suddenly the alarm went off and Lloyd grabbed me and hauled me into the next room. As we entered, the door at the other end of the room started to open, and Lloyd pulled me into the opening in the floor, between two of the floor panels.

They went through the door to the prison block, and a few minutes later they came back.

They argued for a moment over where we had gone. I was now dubbed 'the green haired girl', and Lloyd was 'the boy in red'.To be totally honest, I found that annoying. After all, we did have NAMES!

They left to look for us else where, revealing how we could escape the room. Lloyd was currently trying to figure out how to shock the machines that were needed to leave the room, and I was examining a strange contraption at the entrance to the room.

"Hey Lloyd," I said, "Come over here and look at this."

He came over and touched it with the hand that he was wearing the sorcerers ring on. When his hand made contact with it, there was a flash. When the light died, I looked at Lloyd.

"What did you do?" I asked him.

"I don't know," he said, "But maybe it wasn't me, maybe it was the ring."

He aimed the ring at air, and launched a ball of electricity from it.

"Hey!" I said, "Can you use that to shock the machines?"

"I could try," he said, and soon enough, we were on our merry way. However, there was no way it could be that easy. We were walking down a corridor, and we turned a corner to run face first into five Desians. They froze for a second, then charged, one staying back to cast. One of them lunged at me with his sword, and I ordered,_ "More Skilled." _The moment I finished the thought, I half-turned, grabbed the man's sword in my left hand, jerked him forward, and smashed the armored knuckles of my right hand onto his fingers.

He released the sword with a cry, and I pivoted on my left foot, turned the sword, and bashed the pommel of the hilt into, head of the other man who was attacking me. He crumpled to the ground and the man whose fingers I had broken stood back up, forcing me to turn back to him. He threw a punch at me with his good hand, and I grabbed his fist, turned rapidly in a circle, and launched him at the sorcerer. The attacker flew and crashed into the sorcerer, rendering both of them unconscious.

Lloyd walked up behind me and pushed me forward. We took off down the hall and were cornered by two groups of Desians, one in front of us, and one behind us. I didn't know why, but I was starting to feel light-headed.

Lloyd grabbed my hand and pulled me down a side hall, and into a room. We stood there thinking we were safe, until we heard a voice.

"And just who the hell are you?" the voice said from behind us. Lloyd whipped around, pulling me behind him, and I peeked over his shoulder to meet the cold blue eyes of our captor. In his hand he held a ball of purple electricity, pointed at us.

The man was as tall as Lloyd, maybe an inch or so taller. He had teal and dark blue eyes. And he seemed so... _familiar _somehow. Like I'd known him before. Thinking about it was starting to give me a headache, and between that and my light-headedness, I was starting to feel sick.

"Give me your name, and I shall give you mine," Lloyd said, his voice cocky.

The man laughed, "You certainly have guts," he told Lloyd, "But I'm afraid I don't see the need to introduce myself to a miserable little creature like you."

"What a coincidence," Lloyd said with a casual tone, "'Cause I don't see the need to introduce myself either to a moron who doesn't realize how pathetic he is."

"Why you little..." the man said, clearly angry. Lloyd dropped into a defensive stance, and I brought my gauntleted hands up to protect myself as well. For a moment, however, my face was exposed when Lloyd moved, and the man's eyes widened. His hand dropped when he noticed me, but he quickly looked away, and spoke to Lloyd.

"An Exsphere!" he said, sounding surprised, "You're... Lloyd?"

"And if I am," Lloyd asked him.

The man crossed his arms across his chest, and took a step closer to us. He looked Lloyd over.

"Hmm," he said, "I see the resemblance."

Suddenly the alarm went off, and Lloyd drew his sword. A man whom I recognized as the one who had attacked the Martel Chapel entered the room, and Lloyd pulled me away from the door.

"Sir!" the man who had just entered said, "We've received reports that the Chosen's group has infiltrated the facility!"

"You...," Lloyd said, "you're the Desain that attacked Iselia!"

The man looked at us. "So you're Lloyd!" he said, "Now this is amusing!"

The blue-haired man looked at the Desian, "Botta!" he said, "I'm leaving for now. Our plans will be ruined if he sees me."

The Desian, Botta, turned back to him, "What of the Chosen?" he asked.

"I'll leave that to you," the blue-haired man said.

"Understood," Botta replied.

The blue-haired man turned to us, "Lloyd," he said, "The next time we meet, you and that girl are mine. Just you wait." And with that he left.

Botta started to back Lloyd and I toward the wall, when the door opened again, and we heard a familiar voice.

"Lloyd! Abbi!," Genis cried, "Are you okay?"

"Are you alright?" Colette, who was standing next to him asked, "Are you hurt?"

"They look fine," said the third and final person who had entered the room, Kratos.

"You guys all came for us?" Lloyd asked.

"Perfect timing," Botta said, "I'll take care of everyone at once!"

"Get ready," Kratos said, and Lloyd and I shifted into fighting positions.

The fight started. Two of the three minions that had come with Botta charged Lloyd and I, while Botta and the third minion rushed Colette's group. Lloyd dispatched the two that came after us, and ran to help the others. As I watched, so light-headed I almost couldn't see straight, I noticed Botta about to hit Genis with his sword. Genis was casting and didn't notice Botta sneaking up on him.

I rushed forward at a rate that I had never before achieved. Whether the sudden burst of energy was from desperation or the need to protect Genis I'll never know. All I kew was that I was suddenly between Botta and Genis, and my hand flew up and connected with the hilt of Botta's sword as it started it's descent.

Botta's grunt of pain from the jarring impact was drowned out by a loud crack. The blade of Botta's heavy broadsword broke off and fell onto my back, blade down. It cut deeply into the flesh and muscle of my back, and I didn't even hear my own scream before I knew no more.


	7. Training and Dreams

Training

_It was dark. The kind of darkness that swallows everything, even thought. I drifted through it, not attached, not really aware. Just drifting. _

_ The darkness cleared to reveal an image. A woman. The one from before, that looked like me._

_ "Mira, are you okay?" she asked me. I nodded._

_ "I'm okay Mama," I told her, smiling. "Lets play, Mama!"_

_ "Okay, okay," she said laughing, "What should we play?"_

_ "I don't know," I said._

_ "How about tag?" came a voice in my ear as someone tapped my shoulder. "Tag, you're it!" the voice shouted. I whirled and started to chase the owner._

_ "Uncle Mithos!" I shouted, "That's not fair!"_

_ I heard a low laugh and turned and slapped the knee of the man standing behind me. "Tag! You're it!" I took off running and the man running behind me._

_ I was swept off my feet, and shrieked as he started to tickle me. I struggled against he hold as I laughed, until a voice interrupted our fun._

_ "If you two don't mind," came a fourth voice, "We need to get going."_

_ The man stopped, and I turned to look at the speaker._

_ "Aww, Kratos," I said, "You're no fun." I pouted at him and he gave me a wry smile. "Maybe not, but I'll play with you when we stop for tonight, okay?"_

_ "Promise?" I asked him._

_ "Promise," he said, and I jumped into his arms._

_ "Yay!" I shouted and he chuckled. He handed me to my mother, and the man /i had been playing with came over to us._

_ "She's going to be quite a handful as she gets older," Kratos said, "You sure you can handle her, Martel?"_

_ "She'll manage," Uncle Mithos said, "Won't you, Martel?"_

_ "Of course I will," my mom said, "I have 'Uncle Mithos' and her father and godfather to help me. I think that between the four of us, we can handle her."_

_ "Not if you're not there," the voice was cold and sent shivers down my spine. I turned to see who it was, and..._

My eyes snapped open, and I saw Colette sitting next to me. I was lying on my stomach on a bed, and I had no idea why.

I went to sit up, and searing pain ran though every inch of my body. Every muscle in my body felt like it was on fire. Colette looked up at my cry.

"Abbi!" she exclaimed, "You're awake! How are you feeling?"

"Like my whole body's been trampled by a herd of horses," I groaned, "Where are we?"

"We're in Triet," she said, "We brought you here after we escaped the Desian base. You were hurt pretty badly." She stood and ran toward the door, "I'm gonna go get the Professor, she wanted to see you when you woke up."

Colette hurried out, and I pondered my dream. Why had Kratos been in it? Who was 'Uncle Mithos? And what about that other man? And Martel? Was it just a dream? Before I could try to sort out the questions running wildly around in my head, the door opened, and the Professor walked in.

"How are you feeling, Abbi?" she asked.

"As I told Colette," I said in a dry tone, "I feel like my whole body's been trampled by a herd of horses. What happened?"

"You saved Genis' life," she said, kneeling beside me, pulling my shirt up, "You stopped Botta's blade as he swung it down to kill Genis. But the stress from the collision caused the blade break off. It fell on your back, and cut you clear to the bone. I healed it as well as I could, but you'll have a nasty scar."

"My clothes?" I asked.

"Don't worry," she said, "Lloyd fixed them. He said they were a gift from Dirk, and that he would make them good as new."

"But wait," I said, "the wound on my back doesn't explain why my whole body hurts. Why is that?"

"Kratos can explain that," Raine said, fixing my top, "He said he'd explain when you woke up." She stood and went toward the door, "I'll get everyone. I'll be right back."

A few minutes later, the door burst open to reveal Genis. He ran to my bedside.

"Abbi!" he shouted, "Are you alright? I'm so sorry! I should have been paying more attention! But I wasn't, and you got hurt..." he trailed off miserably. I looked at him and sighed.

"It wasn't your fault Genis," I said, "I knew what I was getting into, and I did it anyway. So cheer up, okay?"

"But..." he was staring at his feet, and I sighed again.

"If you feel that bad," I said, "How about you make me something to eat, and we'll call it even."

He looked and me, "Okay!" he said, and I smiled. At that moment, the rest of the group came in.

"You're awake," Kratos stated as he walked toward the bed, "And I'm willing to bet you're really sore."

"How did you know?" I asked him.

"You overdid it with your power," he said, and I stared at him.

"Power?" my voice was incredulous.

"Yes, power," he said, "You have a rare ability called 'Command'."

"What is 'Command'?" the Professor asked. Her eyes were shining with the possibility of new information.

"It's not east to explain," Kratos said. He paused and thought for a moment. "Abbi, let me ask you something. When you fight, how do you become so strong and fast in an instant?"

I thought about that for a moment.

"I just tell my self to be 'Stronger' or 'Faster,'" I said. "I just tell my body to do it, and it does."

"That is Command," Kratos said. "Simply put, Command is the ability to unlock the full potential of your physical body."

"However," his tone was deadly serious, "It can be overused, and this is the result," he gestured to me. "The human body can only use twenty percent of it's full capability. The reason for this is that our body isn't built to handle its full capability. When Command is overused, it causes severe muscular pain for at least twenty-four hours."

"Is there a way to prevent overuse?" Raine asked.

"I'll take care of that," Kratos said. "The more of your body's potential that is unlocked, the harder it is to overuse Command. So from now on, at least until the end of our journey, I will be giving Abbi endurance training. And you too Lloyd."

I gaped at him. "What did you say?"

"I said I'll be training you," he said, fixing me with a glare, "You'll start as soon as you're able to move, so be ready." With that he left the room.

By the end of the day, I was able to move freely without feeling pain. That night, I slept without dreams.

The next morning, I was awakened by being kicked out of my bed. I hit the ground with a thud, and sat up, looking around. Kratos stood on the other side of the bed.

"Time to start your training," he said, "get dressed. If you're not out in ten minutes, I'm coming back for you." He left and I started to pull on my clothes.

I left the room I had shared with Raine and Genis, and found Lloyd and Kratos standing in the hall. Lloyd looked none too pleased about the situation.

"Let's go," Kratos said, walking outside. Lloyd and I followed, and he stopped next to the stable that held Noishe.

"Now," the mercenary began, "This is your training regime. In the morning, before breakfast, you will run a course that I will give you when you wake up. You go together. After breakfast, you do fifty push-ups, fifty sit-ups, and, if the surrounding area allows, fifty pull-ups. When we stop for lunch, we will have combat practice, and you run and do your push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups again before bed. Do I make myself clear?"

I was speechless. Was he serious? Looking in his eyes, I guessed so. I also knew it wouldn't do any good to argue, so I looked at him and said, "So whats today's course?"

Lloyd's jaw dropped and he looked at me. I shrugged and Kratos outlined the course.

An hour and a half, three monster fights, five fist fights, and two black-eyes later we made it back to the inn, covered in sweat and panting.

"How was the run?" Genis asked. Lloyd looked at him and so did I. Genis burst out laughing when he noticed that each of us had a black-eye. Raine came out and raised an eyebrow.

"What happened to you?" she asked.

"Lucky punch," we said in unison. Both of the Sages burst out laughing, and Raine healed us before helping us inside. We ate breakfast and got to work on our push-ups and sit-ups. By the time we were done I felt like I wasn't going anywhere.

"I don't think I can move," I groaned. I was laying on my back in the dust of Triet. Every part of me was soaked in sweat, and I was panting.

"Me either," Lloyd said.

"Get up," Kratos said from over us, "We're leaving."

"What?" I asked, "We don't get a break?"

"You should have finished sooner," he said, "Now lets go."

I groaned and rolled over. I started to push myself to my feet, when white hot pain shot up my back. I fell to the ground with a cry, feeling something warm trickle down my back. I faintly heard Raine calling something above me. It was all I could to curl up in a ball and wait for the pain to stop.

When the pain finally subsided, I looked up at my friends. Genis, Lloyd, and Colette were looking at me with worried expressions.

"I'm alright," I managed to say, "Can someone give me a hand up?"

Lloyd reached down to me with his hand, and pulled me to my feet.

"You should be more careful," the Professor said, "You reopened the wound on your back. Don't strain yourself too much."

She turned to Kratos. "And you, don't push her. Give her at least a week to recover before going all out."

He nodded in acknowledgement. He turned to me and tossed something in my direction. I automatically reached out and caught it.

In my hands lay a pair of gauntlets, almost exactly like the pair I had stolen from the Desian's base. The only differences were that the metal on the knuckles sported three wicked looking spikes. I looked a Kratos questioningly.

"I took them to a customization shop," he said simply, "The inside is now padded as well. Wear them at all times."

I nodded, slipping the gauntlets onto my hands. They were considerably heavier that before, due to the padding and the spikes. I gave them a few experimental hefts, and threw a couple punches to get used to the additional weight.

We set off for the Triet Ruins, and I walked beside Lloyd. The incident with the blue-haired man at the Desian base was bothering me, and he was the only person who I could ask. Because if his reaction was any indication, he knew me. And if he knew me, it meant that I could have been a Desian.

"Hey, Lloyd," I said, "Can I ask you something?"

He glanced at me from the corner of his eye. "Of course." he said, "What is it?"

"Back at the Desian Base," I said, "Did you see the way the blue-haired guy reacted when he saw me?"

"Yeah, I did," he replied, his brow furrowing, "He looked shocked... I wonder if he's seen you before? But even so... He looked like he'd seen a ghost."

"Does that mean I was a Desian?" I asked, feeling scared.

"Maybe," he said, shrugging, "but who you were has no bearing on who you are now, right? You're starting with a clean slate, so be whoever you want to be. And no matter what, I know you're a good person, and that's all that matters."

Was shocked by the matter-of-fact tone he used when he said that. Desians had killed his mother, hadn't they? How could he just accept the fact that I may have been one and move on?

"How can you say that?" I asked him quietly, "Desian's killed your mother, right? So how..."

"Listen," he said, cutting me off, "You don't know anything about yourself or your past. Who you were before doesn't affect who you are now. You're a good person at heart, and you're my sister. I believe that if you stay the way you are, even if your memories come back, you will remain a good person. That's all, so forget it, okay?"

I smiled. Lloyd always knew just what to say. "Okay."

We walked in silence for a moment, and I spoke again. "I had a dream while I was unconscious."

"Really?" Lloyd said, looking at me. "What was it about?"

I told him my dream, not mentioning any names, and when I was done, he seemed to be deep in thought.

"What is it?" I asked the brunette.

"Could that have been a memory?" he asked me. "Maybe it's starting to come back?"

"Maybe," I said, and suddenly decided something, "Can you not tell the others? I don't want them to know just yet."

"Why not?" he asked me.

"I just want to figure it out before we tell anyone," I said. That was a lie, the truth was that I didn't want Kratos to know about it yet. If Lloyd was right, then Kratos did know me, and he wasn't telling me anything. I would figure it out on my own if I had to, then I might understand why he was hiding it.

"Alright," Lloyd said, but before we could say anymore Genis called out to us.

"Sorry to interrupt your _important_ conversation," he said sarcastically, "but we're stopping for lunch, and Kratos says it's time for the two of you to train some more."

I raised an eyebrow at his tone, "What happened to you?" I asked the small elf, "You seem upset."

"I hate the heat," he said.

"Ahhh, I see," I said, "You feel guilty about what happened. Both the kidnapping and me getting hurt. Add in the heat and you've got a Genis Bomb."

"You do not!" he snapped.

"Go make lunch, Genis," I told him, "Or if it will make you feel better, you can watch Lloyd and I take out our frustrations on each other during training."

He looked at me in shock for a moment, than smiled. "As fun as that sounds, I promised you a tasty lunch," he said, "And all you'll get from Raine is food poisoning. Go and try to kill each other, and I'll have something waiting when you get back. Is there anything in particular you want?"

"As long as it's edible, I'm good," I told him, and he laughed. He walked to where Raine and Colette were sitting, and Lloyd and I headed over to Kratos. He looked at us for a moment, and led us further into the desert, away form camp.

We had been walking only a few minutes when Kratos stopped. He turned back to us.

"Before we begin, I want to see what you know." he said. He walked a foot or so away, gesturing to Lloyd to follow. Kratos turned to the twin swordsman, and drew his sword. He gestured at Lloyd to do the same.

Suddenly, the two of them were lost in a display of whirling blades. The sound of metal against metal rang around them. I was in awe of the grace and finesse that Kratos was displaying. Soon enough, Kratos had the tip of his sword at Lloyd's throat, and the mock battle ended as soon as it had begun.

"Hn," Kratos said, sheathing his sword, "You have a lot to learn. Abbi, it's your turn."

I walked toward the mercenary, passing Lloyd as he walked off the battlefield. I got to the field, and Kratos drew his sword once more. I took a fighting stance in front of him. Lloyd and I had sparred on our way to Triet with Genis, and he had taught me some tricks.

Kratos launched an attack, and my mind went into overdrive. _'Skill and Speed!'_ I thought, and I dropped and rolled out of the reach of his blade. He recovered quickly, and struck again. This time I rolled under his blade, getting close to his body. He had obviously anticipated this, and sent a swift kick toward my abdomen. I jumped back to avoid it.

I knew that if the fight was long-range, or even a sword fight, I lost my advantage. My best bet was hand to hand combat. If I wanted to stand a chance, I'd have to disarm him. Moving closer again, I let him lunge at me. I turned to the side to avoid the blade, grabbing it with my gauntleted hand, pulling on it hard and fast, jerking it from his grasp. I finished the turn and launched the blade across the sand, in Lloyd's general direction.

Now that he was unarmed, I had a better chance of lasting in the fight. He looked at me with what resembled respect, then lashed out with his fist. I tried to dodge, but found that at the same time he had thrown the punch, he had slipped one of his feet between mine. I fell onto my back in the sand with a grunt, and looked up to see him standing over me, poised to strike.

"I yield," I said. He stepped back and offered his hand to me to help me stand.

"Not bad," he said, "But you used the 'Skill' command, didn't you?"

"Yes," I told him.

"I see," he said, "From now on in our sparring sessions, you aren't allowed to use the 'Skill' command. All other commands can be used, but that one is off limits."

"Why?" I asked him.

"I'm going to teach you real skill," he said, "You won't need it anymore."

"Right," I said. We returned to camp and ate our lunch. After a few more hours of walking, we set up camp for the night, and Lloyd and I did our exercises. Afterward, Raine took a look at my back, and sent me to bed, saying I needed rest. I did as she said, and slept. This time, however, I did not dream.


	8. Visions of the Past

Visions of the Past

The next day we arrived at the Triet Ruins. They were amazing. Large carved pillars flanked the main road like sentries. Most were broken and worn down by the almost constant sandstorm. A large temple stood in the center of the city. It had crumbled and fallen, yet you could still tell that it had been magnificent.

Raine was currently freaking out over the ruins. I just stood there, taking it all in. The feeling that I'd been here before was almost overwhelming. I could almost... No, I could see it.

Now, as I looked around me, the destroyed pillars had been restored, the temple stood tall and proud, looking newly built. At the same time I realized this, I noticed that I seemed to have shrunk. Everything seemed bigger. Beside me stood Kratos, and I looked up at him. I barely reached his waist! Thats when it hit me, this was a memory!

"Kratos?" I asked as I looked at him, "Where is everyone?" My voice was young, childish.

"They're shopping for supplies, Mira," he said, looking down at me, "Now you need to wait patiently for them to get back."

"But I'm bored!" the younger me said, "Why do we need supplies?"

"We're going to make a pact with Efreet," he said, "So we need some health items. Now be patient, and wait quietly."

"But Kratos..." I groaned.

"Are you bothering Kratos, Mira?" came a female voice from behind me.

"Mama!" I turned and threw myself into the arms of the woman behind me. She laughed and gave me a hug.

"Don't you start that Little Mira," she said, her voice scolding, "Were you bothering Kratos?"

"Not at all, Martel," the red-head behind them said, "Isn't that right, Mira? ...Mira ...MIRA!"

My mind snapped back to the present, and I noticed that Kratos was standing in front of me.

"Huh?" I said, then mentally slapped myself. That sure made me sound intelligent!

"The door is open," he said, "Let's go."

"R-right," I said, hurrying past him to the entrance of the temple. As I descended into the darkness before me, my thoughts went back to the memory form before. Everything had looked... new.

"Hey, Professor," I said, walking up to the woman, "How long ago was Triet destroyed?"

"Well, we aren't really sure," she said, "But from what we know, it was well over a thousand years ago. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, just curious," I said, trying to mask the slight panic that laced my voice. What she had said had made my blood run cold. How old was I? How old was Kratos? What the hell was going on in my life?

"What the heck?" I heard Lloyd say, and snapped back to reality.

"Professor," Colette came up to us, "There's no way forward."

"What do you mean?" Raine asked, "There has to be a way forward."

We walked into the main sanctuary and sure enough, it seemed at though it was a dead end. As we walked, I felt a slight change. Colette wasn't beside me anymore, it was...

"What do we do now, Martel?" My uncle asked the woman standing beside me, "And why did you bring Mira?"

"She threatened to follow us if we left her behind," my mother said, looking at me, "And she would have done it, you know that."

"True," he said, "She's a stubborn one."

"And you're not?" my mother asked. My uncle pouted and she laughed. "As for what we should do next, how about lighting that torch? Maybe if we get some light it will help."

"Good idea," he said, and he lit the torch. Suddenly the whole temple shook, and I fell to the floor. When the shaking stopped, I looked up to see my uncle holding his hand out to me. "Are you okay, Mira?"

"I'm fine," I told him as he pulled me to my feet. Kratos and the other man came running into the area.

"Are you guys okay?" the other man asked, "How did you do that?"

"We just lit that torch," my uncle said, pointing.

"So that's it," Kratos said, "We have to light the torches to make it through."

"The torches..." I said.

"What did you say?" I snapped out of my trance when Raine asked me that.

"Doesn't that opening in the wall look like a torch?" I asked, pointing. That got her attention and she turned. I let out a relieved sigh.

"It does... Lloyd, light this torch with the Sorcerer's Ring." she commanded the dual swordsman. Lloyd did so and the temple shook, causing me to fall. Before I hit the ground however, I felt a strong hand wrap around my upper arm, stopping me. Looking behind me, I saw Kratos smirking at me. He pulled me back to balance, not letting go until the shaking stopped.

"You should be more careful," the mercenary told me.

"Thanks," I said sarcastically, "I'll remember that next time."

I pulled my arm from his grip and followed Lloyd to the next torch. For each one we lit, a section of the floor moved. Soon enough, we made it to the teleporter. By then, I had a slight headache from all the flashbacks I had been getting.

"Well," Lloyd said, "Let's go."

We stepped into the teleporter, and ended up in a room with a circular alter in the middle. We walked up to it, and I felt pressure gathering at the alter.

"What is...?" before I could ask, a huge jet of mana shot up from the alter. From it merged two small wingless dragon looking monsters, and a huge red dog with purple spikes all down it's back.

"What the hell are they?" Lloyd yelled, drawing his swords.

"They must be the guardians of the seal," Raine said, pulling out her staff.

"We need to defeat them," Kratos said, hurrying to join Lloyd on the front line. I adjusted my gauntlets and stepped forward. The monsters charged, and I rolled out of the way as the biggest one shot spikes at us. I came to my feet in front of one of the smaller monsters.

The monster lashed out with it's tail, and though I blocked it with my arm, I was pushed to the side several feet. I ran forward, pulling my fist back as I felt mana gather around it. Before I even touched the monster, I threw my fist forward, releasing the mana that I had charged it with.

"Dragon Claw!" I shouted, watching as the mana formed a clawed hand and slashing the monster in front of me. It screamed and lashed out at me again, but stopped when a chakram slammed into it.

"Thanks Colette!" I shouted as I dodged another swipe from the monster. I swung my fist again, "Dragon Claw!"

The monster screeched as the phantom claw ripped through it a second time. It fell to the ground and its body faded away. I turned and saw the giant monster fall as Kratos stabbed it in the face. As its body disappeared, Lloyd ran to my side.

"Are you okay, Abbi?" he asked as he looked me over for injuries.

"I'm fine..." I said as I looked at the alter. A ring had risen above it and projected the image of a muscular flaming spirit. The summon spirit, Efreet. All of the familiar images were making my head spin. I had been here before, I had met Efreet, I had spoken with him. My name was Mira, I was sure of that now. But who was Mira? Who was I?

"Abbi?" Lloyd's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. I looked at him, "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, just tired," I told him. I would talk to him later about my name and such, but for now it could wait.

"That's good," he said, "Let's go, Colette is getting ready to pray. You don't want to miss that do you?"

"Of course not," I said. We walked over and watched as Remiel gave Colette her wings. Genis was fascinated and watched as she pulled them in and out. I simply watched them have fun. We exited the temple, planning on going back to Triet. As soon as we got out however, Colette collapsed.

I rushed to the side of the young chosen. She had a high fever, and she was shaking. We agreed to make camp there to let her rest. Lloyd tried to talk to her, but she shut him out, she shut us all out. I wanted to talk to Lloyd, but decided against it. He was worried about Colette, I couldn't make him worry about me too.

"Abbi?" I glanced up. Genis was looking at me. "You okay? You haven't even touched you food."

"I'm fine, Genis." I told the young elf, "I'm just a little... distracted."

"If you're sure..." he stood, "You should eat, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Raine says were going to Izoold, and that means going through the Ossa Trail, across the mountains."

"Alright, I will. Thanks Genis." I offered him a grateful smile. He smiled back.

"No problem. What are friends for?"

I ate my supper and laid down, wrapping myself in my cloak. As I looked at the stars, a single thought raced through my mind.

_"Who am I?"_

**I am so sorry. There is no excuse for waiting so long to update. I was doing finals and such, but school is now out and summer is here. I will update more often now. Please forgive me.**


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